2022-23 Bound for State Regulations - March 11, 2023 March 17-18, 2022 Individual Events
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WIAA/DAIRY FARMERS OF WASHINGTON/LES SCHWAB TIRES
2022-23 Bound for State
Regulations
March 11, 2023
Individual Events
University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
March 17-18, 2022
Debate & Student Congress
University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WAPURPOSE Purpose This manual is designed to be a general guide for all interscholastic forensic activities and is presented to ensure a better understanding of these activities, their makeup, and the duties and interrelationship of each administrative group. It will serve as a directive for participating schools, the forensics director and the school administrator, as well as the colleges and universities sponsoring invitational forensics tournaments. The regulations in this manual and the WIAA Handbook shall be considered official rules for all interscholastic forensic activities in the state of Washington. Philosophy Interscholastic forensic participation shall provide the student with an opportunity to define, analyze, investigate, evaluate, formulate ideas, organize, read for information and appreciation, interpret, engage in formal argumentation, state issues, summarize, classify and corroborate evidence, examine the most effective methods for influencing belief, distinguish between sound and unsound reasoning, recognize fallacies and strategies, and examine political, economic, and social philosophies. This participation shall develop these worthwhile experiences that will constructively motivate the development of the attributes of good citizenship. Although member schools will have an opportunity to demonstrate and to evaluate the best that has been taught in each school, the emphasis shall be upon maximum participation and upon training that will help the student to become a good citizen, not upon winning a contest. These regulations are current as of September 18, 2022. Invitational Tournaments An invitational tournament is defined as a tournament that includes schools from more than one WIAA District, is held at an accredited school, college or university, and awards are presented to the winning contestants. Member schools that wish to host a tournament should contact the Secretary of the Washington State Forensics Association (WSFA) so that the event is listed on the WSFA calendar. Sanction, once granted, is a continuing matter, as long as the particular tournament format is consistent with the original application and until such time as other action may be taken. For all intrastate contests, meets and tournaments, regardless of the number of schools involved, each participating school must obtain permission to attend from their local school board.
In all interstate contests, meets and tournaments, each participating school shall follow the
contest meet and tournament rules of the State Association of which it is a member, or rules
that have been approved by the State Association for interstate competition.
WIAA will maintain a listing of all scheduled and approved events.
Washington Interscholastic Activities Association
435 Main Avenue South
Renton, WA 98057
Phone: (425) 687-8585 | Fax: 425-687-9476
Each tournament shall agree to:
1. Use two high school debate coaches in tab advisory capacity.
2. Use the official debate question adopted by the WSFA, and shall make no revision or
interpretation of the debate resolution.
3. Use the "Rules of Evidence" in debate.
4. Use state rules and time limits for state individual events.
5. Use the recommended guide for experience divisions for debate.
6. No round of Debate or Individual Events shall be videotaped.
7. No round of competition shall start after 9 p.m. Tournaments that host a double-octafinals
division or divisions be allowed to start the finals round of those divisions by 10:00 pm.
8. Each tournament shall agree to abide by the Novice Case list voted upon by the Washington
State Forensics. Association (WSFA) Novice CX Case list. The novice case areas are limited to
tournaments October through December.
9. Each Director/Coach must physically accompany students in all phases of competition for
the duration of the tournament.
10. WSFA recommends that each tournament recognize the top 20% of those participating in
each event.
11. Computers may be used in debate rounds.
11.1. All evidence read in round must be made available to the opposing team on paper or
an additional computer. The evidence should be clearly marked to show which parts
were read in the round.
11.2. Contestants using computers assume all risk for equipment failure. No additional
accommodations or prep time will be given should equipment failure occur.
11.3. Internet access, if used, must be available to both teams.
12. Competitors and coaches shall refrain from communication once a debate round has
started. This includes the use of electronic devices to communicate during a debate.
Tournament directors of invitational tournaments, and the WSFA Executive Committee
at the State tournament, shall have the authority to sanction individuals violating this
standard.
13. Only member schools of the WIAA shall participate in approved invitational tournaments.
Member schools of neighboring state associations may be invited.
Rules And Regulations For Forensics
1. Policy Topic Selection – The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association and The
Washington State Forensics Association join with the National Federation of State High
School Associations in selecting the National Policy Debate Topic. After the problem areashave been decided upon by the NFHS Topic Selection Committee, they are sent to each
state for a ballot. The WSFA will administer the ballot at the Fall membership meeting
and send the results to the WIAA office. The proposition receiving the majority vote on a
national basis is selected as the National and State Policy Debate resolution.
2. Eligible Students- A student, in order to participate in activities, shall meet the standards
of eligibility in the WIAA Handbook and shall not have been in violation of the forensic
tournament rules as determined by the tournament manager. Violation would result in
expulsion from that tournament and the next tournament the school attends.
3. Experienced-Inexperienced Levels Of Debate Participation - There should be three (3)
levels of team debate competition (Policy and Public Forum) and three (3) levels of Lincoln-
Douglas debate competition at Invitational Tournaments. Awards received in both team
and Lincoln-Douglas debate shall act cumulatively to advance a student in both team and
Lincoln-Douglas debate levels.
3.1. Level #1 - Novice- Open to students who have no previous experience in debate prior
to the current competitive year, or those students who have six (6) or fewer rounds of
debate competition at Invitational, League, or District competition prior to the current
competitive year and have not received a trophy in Level 1 or higher debate
competition at two (2) invitational tournaments with 15 or more schools attending.
3.2. Level #2 - Junior Varsity- Open to those students in their first or second year of
competition who have not received a trophy in Level 2 debate competition at two (2)
invitational tournaments with 15 or more schools participating and have not placed
first through fourth (1-4) at the WIAA State Debate Championship Tournament.
3.3. Level #3 – Varsity/Open - Open to all Lincoln-Douglas and team debaters regardless of
years of experience or awards won.
4. Rules Of Evidence In Debate
4.1. In all debate events contestant are expected to, at a minimum, orally deliver the
primary author’s last name and a year of publication for any piece of evidence used.
Oral citations do not substitute for the written source citation. The full written citation
must be provided if requested by an opponent or judge
4.2. To the extent provided by the original source, a written source citation must include:
4.2.1. the first initial and full last name of all authors.
4.2.2. the authors’ qualifications
4.2.3. the publication title
4.2.4. the publication date
4.2.5. the full URL
4.3. If a publicly accessible URL is not available, the written source citation should include
sufficient information to find the original source. This includes the available information
cited in 4.2, and to the extent provided by the original source:
4.3.1. The title of article of chapter
4.3.2. Page numbers
4.4. If requested, any material that is presented during a debate round must be made
available to the opponent followinf the speech in which it is presented. Judges may
call for and view evidence after the round if they feel it would improve their decision-
making process.
4.5. The evidence should be clearly marked to show which parts were read in the round. If adebater does not read the entirety of the underlined portions of evidence (e.g.
clipping), they must indicate this to the judge and competitor. To distinguish between
which pats of each piece of evidence are and are not read in a particular round,
debaters must mark their evidence in two ways:
4.5.1. Oral delivery of evidence must be identified by a clear oral instruction to mark
the card where the debater stopped reading. For instance if the last word read is
“x,” then the debater should instruct the room to “mark the card at ‘x.’”
4.5.2. The written text must be marked to clearly indicate the portions read in the
debate.
4.6. Debaters may not fabricate evidence, nor may they add or delete words from existing
evidence in a manner that significantly alters the conclusion of the author. If text is
added the debater must include square brackets around the added text. Text may be
modified foe objectionable language, but it must be clearly indicated that this has
taken place.
4.7. Judges may challenge teams or evidence in violation of these rules. Judges who
discover violations of these rules should give an automatic loss to the offending
competitor and report the action to the tournament director. The tournament
director must inform the coach of the offending team and the President of the WSFA
of the action. The coach may appeal the decision of the judge to the tournament
director if she/he believes the decision of the judge is improper.
5. Congressional Debate Legislation
5.1. Congressional debate legislation should be written by students and submitted to the
Congressional Debate Committee by dates determined at the Fall coaches meeting.
5.2. Legislation will be reviewed by a committee appointed by each district chair, which
shall convene prior to or after the WSFA meeting and again prior to release of the
spring packet release.
5.3. Appropriate legislation shall be emailed to the WSFA Congress gmail account by
specified date as announced at the Fall coaches meeting. Such legislation shall be in
effect until 12/31. By the determined dates distributed by the WSFA President and
Secretary, legislation will be submitted to the committee. It will be reviewed by the
committee and approved legislation will be put in PDF on a website and will be binding
from 1/1 until the state tournament.
Interpretation Of Any Debate Propositions
1. No individual or groups of individuals, no tournament director or tournament staff has the
right to interpret a debate proposition or to restrict analysis in any way. Only the
Washington State Forensics Association has the right to interpret a Debate resolution. Only
in a rare instance would such action be desirable.
2. The Debate Resolution should be interpreted within the context of the problem area.
STATE TOURNAMENTSA State Debate Tournament and a State Individual Events Tournament are held under the
auspices of the WIAA Forensic Committee. The tournament sites and dates are selected and
announced in the fall of each year.
The Forensic Committee shall adopt regulations for the conduct of the State Tournaments and
the rules must be approved by the Executive Board or WIAA. Allocations to the State
Tournaments are made in accordance with the procedure in Article 4.0 of the WIAA Handbook.
The WIAA Forensic Committee shall oversee the conduct at the State Tournaments, but the
primary operation of the tournaments shall be the responsibility of the WSFA. All rules and
arrangements for the State Tournaments must be approved by the WSFA Executive Board and
the WIAA Executive Board.
Means Of Qualifying For The State Tournament
A school for the state tournament must compete and qualify in its own district. As stated in the
rules, "By the second weekend in December of each school year, each District Manager shall be
required to file with the WSFA President a list of all schools in her/his District that have
remained active in district activity and which, therefore shall be eligible for consideration for
State Tournament Competition. The WSFA President will submit this list to the WIAA"
The number of schools representing a district is determined by the number of "active" schools
by the second weekend in December. An active school is one that participated in Interscholastic
Forensic Activity on the district and state level. A school must have competed at two
tournaments in debate, individual events or student congress in order to be eligible for the
state tournament in that category of competition. This must be accomplished by the second
weekend in December. Under no circumstances will a school be called active simply because it
is registered with WIAA or because it "intends" to debate.
Schools could have up to six berths at the State Debate Tournament. However, schools could
have no more than two teams in Policy, Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum Debate. The district
may choose any method convenient for determining its allocated number of schools in the
State Tournament.
State Tournament Regulations
1. The State Debate and State IE Tournament Headquarters will include WSFA officers and one
representative from each WIAA District as selected by the representative district.
2. Judging for all rounds at the state tournaments shall be assigned by blind draw. Each
school is required to provide a judge for each Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, and Public Forum
debate entry. Schools competing in Congressional Debate must provide one judge.3. Judges are committed to judge two (2) rounds after their school is eliminated. Schools will
be fined $100 for failure to meet each judges’ elimination round requirement.
4. Every reasonable attempt will be made to assign at least one coach and to gender
balance all multiple-judged rounds.
5. State judges may not judge a semifinal round that has a competitor from the judge's
same school still competing in that division and event.
6. Speaker Awards in the Policy, Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum divisions of the State
Debate Tournament are based on all preliminary rounds. Tiebreaking procedures for all
speaker awards will be: high-low points, total points, double-high-low points, then ranks.
The top 10 speakers will be announced, with awards for an appropriate number of
speakers determined by the Executive Committee.
7. Students qualifying for the semifinal or final round of all interpretive events shall not be
heard until they have presented to the judging panel a notification card that certifies
that they have had their interpretation selection(s) inspected and verified as meeting the
requirements of the tournament.
8. There is to be no videotaping of rounds at the state tournaments. The executive committee
may allow the videotaping of a final round for educational or news purposes provided it
does not violate royalty and copyright laws.
9. Scouting of opposing teams is strongly discouraged.
10. A hiring school will receive a fine for each ballot missed by a judge, beginning with the
second ballot, retroactive to the first. Each ballot missed will result in a $20 fine.
Tournament officials may waive such fees if extenuating circumstances provide such a
need.
STATE DEBATE TOURNAMENTS
Matching The Tournament
All Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, and Public Forum teams will be guaranteed six preliminary rounds of
debate.
1. Tab Room Software
1.1. The Policy, Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum Divisions of the State debate tournament
will be paired using tabroom.com, or other tab room software if the tab room decides
that alternate software will more efficiently pair the tournament.
1.2. The tab room will maintain a backup copy of all contestant cards and judge cards.
1.3. The tab room will double-check the tournament data entry after each round, using the
tabroom.com double check methods, or an efficient alternate method.
Pairing Procedures
The following procedures will be used for the Policy, Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum divisions
of the State Debate Tournament.1. Tournament Setup Procedures
1.1. Each entry will be entered in tabroom.com with a regional designation, based on the
WIAA districts.
1.2. No debate entry shall meet for a third time until the final round.
2. Preliminary Rounds
2.1. Rounds 1 and 2 will be randomly matched preset debates.
2.2. All rounds will be paired using standard tabroom.com pairing procedures.
2.3. The tabroom.com regions will be used as a pairing constraint to maximize the
possibility of inter-district debates for rounds 1 and 2. Regional constraints will not be
used for rounds 3 thru 6.
2.4. Round 3 will be matched “high-high” within each bracket.
2.5. Rounds 4-6 will be matched “high-low” within each bracket.
2.6. Byes will be determined using the standard tabroom.com procedures (bye goes to
the entry with the worst record who has not already received a bye). Please note:
once a bye has been drawn correctly it cannot be changed. No entry may refuse a
bye. The winner of a forfeit will be recorded as a bye.
2.7. Aff/neg side constraints (excluding Public Forum Debate) are strictly enforced for all
even numbered debates.
2.8. There will no school constraints in any prelim or elim round.
2.9. Entries will not meet more than once in prelims.
2.10. If any scenarios occur outside of these rules, presumption will be given to the default
settings in tabroom.com.
3. Elimination Rounds
3.1. Only entries with at least a 4-2 preliminary record will compete in the elimination
rounds. All entries with a 4-2 record or better will compete in elimination rounds.
3.2. An appropriate number of elimination rounds will be determined based on the
number of eligible entries.
3.3. If 8 or fewer entries are eligible for the elims, the tournament will proceed directly to
quarterfinals. If 9-15 entries are eligible, a partial octofinal will be held.
3.4. Once in elimination rounds, the tournament is single-elimination.
3.5. All elimination rounds will be triple-judged.
3.6. The bracket for elimination rounds will be determined by the following tiebreakers:
3.6.1. Win/loss record
3.6.2. High/low speaker points
3.6.3. Total speaker points
3.6.4. Opposition wins
3.6.5. Judge variance
3.6.6. Total ranks (CX only)
3.7. Sides for elim debates will be determined by coin flip, unless teams met in prelims, in
which case teams should switch sides. This does not apply to Public Forum debate,
which always flips a coin for sides.
3.8. In order to distinguish third and fourth place from one another, the following criteriawill be used:
3.8.1. Head to Head competition
3.8.2. Win-Loss record
3.8.3. Speaker Points
3.8.4. Adjusted Speaker Points
School Sweepstakes Awards
Each student’s overall placement in the final round shall count towards school sweepstakes
points. Sweepstakes points shall be awarded on the following basis of final round results:
Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum Debate
1st Place 10 points
2nd Place 8 points
3rd Place 6 points
4th Place 6 points
Quarterfinalist 4 points
Octa-/Partial-Octa Finalist 2 points
Congressional Debate
Tiebreaking Procedure
The school with the highest individual placement between the tied schools will receive
the higher sweepstakes placing.
Top PO… 5 points
1st Place 10 points
2nd Place 8 points
3rd Place 6 points
4th Place 4 points
5th Place 4 points
6th Place 4 points
7th Place 4 points
8th Place 4 points
9th Place 2 points
10th Place 2 points
11th Place 2 points
12th Place 2 pointsJudging Guidelines
1. All LD and CX judges at the state debate tournament, whether provided by a school or hired by the
tournament, will provide a judging philosophy or paradigm posted on tabroom.com.
2. Judges are expected to take notes throughout the debate and these should be used to help render a
decision. In rounds with more than one judge there must be no conferring.
3. It is vital that judges give reasons for decisions on the ballot, and it should be obvious who is the
winner and loser.
Any low point winner should be clearly marked on the ballot. It is not enough to say “oral critique.”
4. If an oral critique is given the judge is encouraged not to reveal the winner. Revealing the winner has
resulted in teams forfeiting subsequent rounds.
5. All events should be timed. Time signals must be given upon request in: Policy Debate, Lincoln-
Douglas Debate, and Public Forum Debate.
6. Unless a major infraction occurs a judge should not interrupt or stop a contest. Forensic competition
should be a continuous process from the first through final speech.
7. Any judging infraction reported during a tournament should result in a conference between the
tournament committee, the offending judge, and the coach. The tournament committee may
exercise the following options:
7.1. A verbal warning
7.2. Removal from judging
7.3. Disqualified from judging any WIAA/WSFA sanctioned forensic event.
Debate Events
Policy Debate
A school may have a two, three, or four-person team entered. Only two may participate in a
single debate. WIAA allocation will be based on two-member teams.
FORMAT:
First Affirmative Constructive 8 minutes
Cross-Examination by Negative 3 minutes
First Negative Constructive 8 minutes
Cross-Examination by Affirmative 3 minutes
Second Affirmative Constructive 8 minutes
Cross-Examination by Negative 3 minutes
Second Negative Constructive 8 minutes
Cross-Examination by Affirmative 3 minutes
First Negative Rebuttal 5 minutes
First Affirmative Rebuttal 5 minutes
Second Negative Rebuttal 5 minutes
Second Affirmative Rebuttal 5 minutes
Each team has six (6) minutes of preparation time to use as it chooses during a Debate, except
that:
1. No prep time can be taken prior to cross-examination. Questioning begins immediately after eachconstructive speech.
2. A team may not take prep time prior to an opposing team's speech.
3. Prep time is to be counted up to the point when the speaker actually begins speaking.
4. When a team has used all its six minutes, any additional prep time taken is to be subtracted from
speaking time.
5. When electronic copies of evidence are being used, once the speaking team has provided the
storage device to the opposing team their prep time shall be stopped. The opposing team should be
given a reasonable amount of time to retrieve the evidence from the storage device. It is judge's
discretion to restart prep time if there is an issue with the storage device provided by the speaking
team.
Each debater must speak in a constructive speech and a rebuttal speech; must question and be
questioned. The Affirmative speakers may "switch' speaker positions in rebuttals, but the
Negative speaker may not.
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
A Lincoln-Douglas debate entry consists of one competitor. WIAA allocation will be based on a
single competitor.
FORMAT:
Affirmative 6 minute constructive
Negative 3 minute cross-examination
Negative 7 minute constructive
Affirmative 3 minute cross-examination
Affirmative 4 minute rebuttal
Negative 6 minute rebuttal
Affirmative 3 minute rebuttal
Each Lincoln-Douglas person has four (4) minutes of preparation time to use during a Debate,
except that:
1. No prep time can be taken prior to cross-examination.
2. A person may not take prep time prior to the opposition's speech.
3. No prep time can be taken prior to cross-examination. Questioning begins immediately
after each constructive speech.
4. A competitor may not take prep time prior to an opposing competitor's speech.
5. Prep time is to be counted up to the point when the speaker actually begins speaking.
6. When a competitor has used all of its four minutes, any additional prep time taken is to
be subtracted from speaking time.
7. When electronic copies of evidence are being used, once the speaking team has provided
the storage device to the opposing team their prep time shall be stopped. The opposing
team should be given a reasonable amount of time to retrieve the evidence from the
storage device. It is judge's discretion to restart prep time if there is an issue with thestorage device provided by the speaking team.
Public Forum Debate
A school may have a two, three, or four-person team entered. Only two may participate in a
single debate. WIAA allocation will be based on two-member teams.
FORMAT:
First Constructive: Team 1 4 minutes
First Constructive: Team 2 4 minutes
First Cross-Fire 3 minutes
Rebuttal: Team 1 4 minutes
Rebuttal: Team 2 4 minutes
Second Cross-Fire 3 minutes
Summary: Team 1 3 Minutes
Summary: Team 2 3 Minutes
Grand Cross-Fire 3 Minutes
Final Focus: Team 1 2 Minutes
Final Focus: Team 2 2 Minutes
Each team has three (3) minutes of preparation time to use as it chooses during a Debate,
except that:
1. No prep time can be taken prior to Cross-Fire. Questioning begins immediately after each
speech.
2. A team may not take prep time prior to an opposing team's speech.
3. Prep time is to be counted up to the point when the speaker actually begins speaking.
4. When a team has used both minutes, any additional prep time taken is to be
subtracted from speaking time.
5. When electronic copies of evidence are being used, once the speaking team has provided
the storage device to the opposing team their prep time shall be stopped. The opposing
team should be given a reasonable amount of time to retrieve the evidence from the
storage device. It is judge's discretion to restart prep time if there is an issue with the
storage device provided by the speaking team.
6. At the conclusion of the summary speeches, all four debaters will remain seated and
participate in a three-minute "Grand Crossfire” in which all four debaters are allowed to
cross-examine one another. The speaker who gave the first summary speech must ask the
first question.Congressional Debate
WSFA follows District NSDA rules for Congressional Debate with the following clarifications and
exceptions:
1. APPORTIONING
1.1. Each WIAA district shall determine an appropriate method to attend the State
Congressional Debates. Such a method should be appropriate to the specific needs,
concerns, resources, and desires of the schools with active debate programs within
the district.
1.2. WIAA will allocate the number of berths representing each district. Each school shall be
limited to qualifying a maximum of one legislator per chamber.
1.3. State Congressional Debate will consist of three chambers.
1.4. Total allotment of time for a single piece of legislation shall not exceed 1/3 of the total
amount of time of a single single session.
1.5. In order to be considered an active school for Congressional Debate, a school
must have competed in two (2) Interscholastic Congressional Debate
Tournaments by December 15.
2. CONGRESS OFFICIALS
2.1. Each house will require the services of a parliamentarian who will remain throughout
the entirety of the competition. The parliamentarian will be appointed by the WSFA
President or his/her designee to supervise that particular house and to preside in case a
student officer becomes too deeply involved in procedure. Ordinarily, he/she should
remain in the background, but he/she should step forward firmly when his/her
presence is required. The purpose of the congress is to debate legislation, and it is the
parliamentarian's duty to see that this is done. At the end of Session Three (3), the
Parliamentarian will rank order all contestants in his/her chamber and will rank order
the Presiding Officers.
2.2. Official scorers shall be appointed by the WSFA president or his/her designee to
assign speaking points in all houses. There shall be three (3) scorers in each chamber
for preliminary rounds and five (5) scorers for Super Congress. Every attempt shall be
made to rotate scorers between the chambers after each session and to balance for
district and gender bias. For each speech, a participant shall receive no more than the
allotted NSDA points per speech. At the end of the session, scorers shall rank the top
eight participants one through eight (1-8), (one being the best) with no ties. All other
participants will receive the rank of “nine” (9).
2.3. There shall be no conferring between the Scorers and the Parliamentarian except to
verify the number of speeches each Congressperson gave that should be scored
3. BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS
3.1. Legislation to be considered for State tournament preliminary rounds will be from the
Spring legislation packet. Legislation to be considered for Super Congress may come
from the Super Congress sections from the Fall and Spring legislation packets. The
calendar for State Congress Debate and Super Congress rounds will be set by acommittee of district student representatives (one (1) per district) the Thursday before
the start of the State Congressional Debate tournament and may not be amended.
3.2. A bill is an enumeration of specific provisions that, if enacted, will have the force of law.
A resolution is simply a generalized statement expressing a conviction or seeking a
Constitutional change. The use of both bills and resolutions will add variety to congress
proceedings.
3.3. It is the responsibility of each participating school to see that the properly written
Bills and Resolutions are submitted on time to be considered for the Fall and Spring
legislative packet.
4. PRESIDING OFFICER
4.1. Students wishing to serve as presiding officer (PO) shall apply for appointment to their
respective chamber and coaches should note this on the registration. The legislators of
each chamber will select by voting one of them to preside for each session of the
congress. Consistent with NSDA national procedures, the PO for the next session will
be selected at the end of the current session.
4.2. The Presiding Officer shall follow parliamentary procedure according to 1st) NSDA rules
2nd) Robert's Rules of Order.
4.3. The Presiding officer shall receive a speech score for each hour presiding, given by the
Parliamentarian that counts in priority and recency at the end of the hours served. The
Presiding Officer can be considered for the one to eight (1-8) ranking given by the
scorers at the end of the session, however the Presiding Officer is not required to be
selected by the scorers.
4.4. Use a stopwatch to time speakers and call “time” at the end of the speech or question
time. The presiding officer will also give time signals either by hand or gaveling.
5. SUPER CONGRESS
5.1. The participants advancing to the Super Congress (final session) will be established by:
5.1.1. The total ranks given by the scorers over all three sessions will be used to
advance students to super congress. The five to seven (5-7) students with the
lowest total ranks shall advance from each chamber. Parliamentarian’s
ranking will be the tie-breaker. No more than a total of twenty (21) will be
seated in Super Congress.
5.2. There will be one Parliamentarian and five scorers in the Super Congress with
consideration given to district and gender bias.
5.3. The Parliamentarian of each preliminary Chamber will rank order the Presiding Officers
who served in the preliminary sessions and the top ranked Presiding Officer from each
preliminary chamber who advances will be allowed an auditioning period at the
beginning of Super Congress for top PO. Following the Super Congress auditions, the
chamber will vote to elect one Presiding Officer to serve the remainder of the time in
Super Congress.
5.4. Duration of debate on a single piece of legislation cannot exceed more than 1/3 of the
total amount of time scheduled for debate.6. AWARDS
6.1. At the end of the Super Congress, scorers will rank the top eight (8) legislators, with no
ties. One being the best. All other legislators will receive a rank of “nine” (9). The
Parliamentarian will assign a unique rank to each legislator. Winners will be
determined by adding all scorers’ ranks together. The lowest total ranks will
determine the winners. The Parliamentarian’s ranking shall be used to break ties.
6.2. The Top Presiding Officer award shall go to the legislator who is elected to preside
over Super Congress.
7. AWARDING CREDIT POINTS - Legislators are awarded up to the maximum number of points
as allowed by the District NSDA.
8. PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE
8.1. It is necessary for all Congressional Debate participants to have a working
knowledge of parliamentary procedure and Congress Rules. The following
suggestions should be helpful. All students can profit from studying them.
8.2. Bills and resolutions shall be considered in the order in which they appear on the
calendar.
8.3. All legislation comes from the Spring packet except for Super Congress, where Fall
and Spring Super congress legislation can be considered by the Calendar
Committee.
8.4. A congressperson from the school in which the applicable legislation was authored
has the right to make an authorship speech. If no one from the school, which
authored the legislation, is present in the chamber, any member of the chamber
may sponsor the legislation. However, to do so, any such sponsor must compete
with other potential sponsors based on priority, which shall be determined by
precedence and recency.
8.5. Amendments must be in writing and state exactly the words to be added or
stricken out. They will be debated only if they receive a second from one-third (1/3)
of the members. (Take the vote through showing name placard or standing).
8.6. A member may speak more than once on the same question.
8.7. In questioning the use of direct questioning is allowed, in suit with NSDA procedures.
The presiding officer will open the floor for questions following each speech. The
presiding officer will recognize questioners for a crossexamination period of no more
than 30 seconds. Questioners will be chosen according to a separate questioning
recency
8.8. All speeches are limited to three (3) minutes. There is a mandatory two (2) minute
questioning period after the first proponency and first opponency speech on a
bill/resolution. A speaker must relinquish the floor at the expiration of his/her time.
8.9. Do not overwork the motion for previous question. As long as anyone has something
to say, give him/her a chance to say it.
8.10. On Congressional Debate rules, the Parliamentarian is the final authority, and
he/she should correct any deviations from the rules.
8.11. Under no circumstances is anyone permitted to argue with the presiding officer. Thepresiding officer has been elected by the members who should abide by his/her
decisions unless he/she grievously violates the rights of the assembly or its
members.
8.12. Amendments
8.12.1. The intent of the amendment must be germane to the bill or resolution and
may not change the intent of the bill or resolution.
8.12.2. Amendments should be introduced only between speeches on the floor. To be
debated, a one-third (1/3) vote of the chamber is needed for the second.
8.12.3. The original author of the amendment is not guaranteed an authorship
speech. If debate is opened on the amendment, the authorship speech on the
amendment should be based on precedence and recency, and should be
followed by a one (1) minute questioning period.
8.12.4. The presiding officer’s hour of presiding does not count toward
precedence, but does count toward recency. The presiding officer’s recency
should be counted as of the time s/he begins his/her period of presiding.
8.12.5. All speeches on an amendment shall be in priority order as determined by the
Presiding Officer’s chart of speeches.
9. SPEECH ORDER/PRIORITY (PRECEDENCE/RECENCY)
9.1. Speech order shall be given to the person who has spoken least in the session after
recency has been established. Prior to recency being established there will be
randomized/pre-set recency wherein each member of the house will be put in
random order. That order from top of the list to bottom of the list will have priority
until recency has been established.
9.2. Speech order will be maintained throughout the preliminary sessions. In the event
that the preliminary rounds span two days, the speech order will not be reset for the
preliminary rounds on Day Two (2).
10. ELECTRONIC DEVICES - Electronic devices are allowed in Congressional Debate, as per
NSDA Rules surrounding the use of internet enabled devices. This means internet
enabled devices are allowed in session with the exception of communication
between a competitor and a non-competitor (student, coach, etc) inside or outside
the room of competition.State Individual Events Tournament
Interp Script Check
The following procedures apply to all WA State interpretive events (Dramatic, Duo, Humorous,
and Program of Oral Interpretation):
Interp script verification for the State Tournament is a two-step procedure.
Step 1 (pre-tournament): All interp selections must be inspected by the coach and
WSFA district chair to assure their compliance with WSFA event rules. Coaches must
then submit a copy of the WSFA Interpretation Coversheet, which includes piece name,
publication proof, and appropriate signatures to their district chair for each entry by the
designated date prior to the State Tournament.
Step 2 (at tournament): All competitors must have their script materials as described in
the “Bound for State” regulations and a copy of their WSFA Interpretation Coversheet,
including all signatures, with them in all rounds at the tournament and available for
judge inspection if requested.
Procedural Notes:
● Districts that qualify competitors for State during the regular season are encouraged to
complete script checks and forms as they qualify. Districts that have a single state
qualifier tournament can do them there.
● A cut-off date for form submissions by district chairs will be established by the WSFA
committee (10 days-2 weeks before tournament). No changes of titles and no
substantial changes in content may be made after form submission.
● WSFA committee members will meet between that date and the tournament to go
through the forms and note any questions or verifications that need to be asked of
coaches.
● Judges at State will be instructed to use forms only to insure that the piece/pieces being
performed are the ones that have been signed off on.
● In the event of discrepancy, the judge completes the round, then brings the protest
to tab for further action. Student competitors must make any protests via their
coaches.
Matching The Tournament
All Individual Event Competitors will be guaranteed three preliminary rounds of competition.
1. Tab Room Software
1.1. The State Speech Tournament will be paired using tabroom.com, or other tab room software if
the tab room decides that alternate software will more efficiently pair the tournament.
1.2. The tab room will maintain a backup copy of all contestant cards and judge cards.
1.3. The tab room will double-check the tournament data entry after each round, using thetabroom.com double check method, or an efficient alternate method.
Matching Procedures
Round 1
Random matching of panels will occur. Major consideration in matching panel one: members of
the same school shall not meet each other and geographic separation will be maintained. This
round shall be double judged.
Round 2
To the extent possible, competitors from the same round 1 panel will not be placed in the same
round 2 panel. No consideration will be given to geographic separation. This round shall be
double judged.
Round 3
Once again, to the extent possible, competitors from the same school shall not be placed in the
same panel. This round shall be double judged.
Final Round
1. All preliminary round rank scores will be counted (6 ballots) with scores of 5 being counted as 5.
2. The final round will include the top 7 contestants determined by the following criteria:
2.1. Preliminary Ranks (all six ballots)
2.2. Preliminary Reciprocals (all six ballots)
2.3. Adjusted rate scores (dropping highs and lows)
2.4. Unadjusted rate scores
Determining Awards
The following criteria (in order listed) will be used to determine placing for final awards:
1) Final round ranks
2) Judges' preferences in the final round
3) Accumulated ranks in all rounds
4) Final round rates
5) Total round rates
School Sweepstakes Awards
Each student’s overall placement in the final round shall count towards school sweepstakes
points. Sweepstakes points shall be awarded on the following basis of final round results:
1st place 10 points
2nd place 8 points
3rd place 6 points
Finalists 3 pointsJudging Guidelines
Judges must show time piece for any participant that goes over the thirty-second grace period.
If possible, two timers should be used in a round.
All events should be timed. Time signals must be given in Extemporaneous Speaking and
Impromptu Speaking. In prepared events - interpretation, oratory, and expository - time is kept,
but time signals are not given. If a contestant exceeds the time limit the judge must show the
competitor the time piece with the over time. Judge may not award the competitor first place
in round.
The following procedures apply to all WA State interpretive events (Dramatic, Duo, Humorous
and Program or Oral Interpretation):
1. Any student who finds a fellow competitor’s performance disturbing is permitted to politely and
unobtrusively leave the round for the duration of that performance, returning after its conclusion. It
shall be made clear to the judges by the tournament committee that a student shall not be
penalized for doing so.
2. The ballots for the interpretive events have a category entitled “Suitable Material or performance”;
in addition, all WA speech ballots have a space for “Reason for Ranking”. In the event a judge finds a
script or performance to be explicit or egregiously inappropriate, he/she should rank the competitor
accordingly and clearly state the reason in the given ballot areas. NOTE: This should only be used as
a means of pointing out a flagrant disregard for competition standards and not as dissent for
political opinions.
3. In the extreme event that a judge feels a piece or performance to be explicit or in flagrant disregard
of competition standards or egregiously inappropriate, he/she should inform the tab room and fill
out an Interpretive Complaint Card (ICC). The card lists the piece, competitor code, school, as well as
the judge’s name and school affiliation. It provides for a written description of the judge’s concerns.
3.1. The card will immediately be brought to the attention of, and made available to, the coach of
the competitor in question, then left with the tab room.
3.2. Only the official judge of the round may fill out an ICC. This excludes other competitors and
their coaches.
3.3. In the case that a competitor in one event at one tournament receives a number of complaint
cards equal to half the total number of judges from the preliminary judges in preliminary
rounds of that event, said competitors will be dismissed from the event.
4. If a student uses a script in a memorized event, that student will be disqualified from future rounds.
Accommodations will be observed as necessary; coaches must notify the state president during the
registration process.Individual Events
Extemporaneous Speaking
The extemporaneous speech should not be regarded as a memory test of the material
contained in any one magazine article, but rather as an original synthesis by the speaker of the
current fact and opinion on the designated topic as presented by numerous sources. The
contestant, therefore, should be held accountable for strict adherence to the precise statement
of the topic drawn, and discounted severely for shifting to some other phase of the topic on
which he/she might prefer to speak. The information presented should be well-chosen,
pertinent, and sufficient to support the central thought of the topic. The material should be
organized according to some logical plan that allows the speaker to produce a complete speech
within the time allowed. Delivery should be free from marked defects in the mechanics of
speech - poise, quality and use of voice, enunciation, bodily expressiveness, and fluency - and
should be effective in enlisting and holding the interest of the audience.
The best extemporaneous speech combines clear thinking, good speaking, and interesting
presentation to establish a definite thought with respect to the subject chosen for the occasion.
Preparation: The contestant will be given a choice of four selections, two domestic and two
international. As soon as the topic is chosen, the contestant shall withdraw and prepare the
speech without consultation and without reference to prepared notes. In addition to
information stored on a computer, Students may have published books, magazines,
newspapers, journals, and/or articles there from provided:
1. They are original or Xeroxed copies of originals.
2. The original or copy is intact and uncut.
3. There is no written material, other than bibliographic information (i.e., title, author, date,
volume #, page), on that original or copy.
4. That the book, magazine, newspaper, or article there from, if highlighted, is highlighted in one
color only.
5. The speaker shall have thirty minutes to prepare.
In addition to those materials listed above, a topical index without annotation may be present
in the extemporaneous prep room. No other material shall be allowed in the extemporaneous
prep room. Extemporaneous speeches, handbooks, briefs, and outlines shall be barred from
the extemporaneous prep room. Computers and other electronic storage and retrieval devices
may be used in Extemporaneous Speaking preparation. As soon as a question is chosen, the
contestant will prepare a speech without consultation and without references to
prepared notes. Students may consult published books, magazines, newspapers and
journals or articles, including internet enabled devices either used during prep or those
materials published from internet sources, provided: 1. They are originals or copies of
whole pages. 2. Provided those originals or copies are uncut. 3. There is no written
material on that original or copy other than citation information. 4. Topical index without
annotation may be present. 5. Files stored either on a computer or electronic device
hard drive or cloud storage system. All files in this format must meet the same
guidelines as printed sources.Extemp speeches, handbooks, briefs and outlines, including those stored on cloud
storage systems or published on websites created for that purpose, are prohibited from
the Extemp prep room. Students may not use the internet to gain help from coaches,
other students, or any person, such that it would prevent the speech from being the
original work of the competitor. Students are prohibited from accessing outlines and
speeches that have been written prior to their draw time. Underlining or highlighting in
Extemp will be allowed if done in only one color on each article or copy. Competitors may
not access the Internet via the use of local wireless network or mobile wireless device. The
computer must be available for inspection by the prep room proctor at all times.
Judging
1. Time signals must be given by the judge.
2. Time limit: Maximum of seven (7) minutes. If the speaker goes over a 30-second grace period a
judge may not award that contestant first place in the round. No minimum time limit.Impromptu Speaking
Impromptu is intended to judge the speaker's ability to discuss the chosen topic. In this event,
the speaker will be given a choice of three topics. The three topics shall include a word, a
quotation, and a social comment. A good impromptu speaker will discuss the ideas presented in
the topic intelligently and with adequate speaking skills. Each contestant will have a different
choice of topics.
1. Contestants have six (6) minutes to choose one of the three topics, organize thoughts,
and speak on the chosen topic. The topic the speaker chooses must be stated as part
of the introduction.
2. Students may not use or prepare any notes during preparation or speaking time.
3. Time limit: Preparation time and speaking time shall be a total of six (6) minutes. Time
signals must be given by the judge. If the speaker goes over a 30-second grace period a
judge may not award that contestant first place in the round. No minimum time limit.Informative Speaking
1. The purpose of informative speech is to describe, clarify, explain and/or define an
object, idea, concept, social institution or process.
2. The responsibility for choosing a worthwhile topic rests with the contestant. The use
of humor will not be penalized.
3. The speech must be the original work of the speaker. No more than 150 words of
quoted material and/or paraphrased material may be included in the speech. This
speech may not have been used in forensic competition by the student prior to
the current competitive season.
4. The speech may be delivered extemporaneously, with or without the use of notes.
5. The contestant will not be penalized for the use of notes or visual aids, unless
they interfere with ability to communicate with the audience.
6. Time limit: Maximum of ten (10) minutes. If the speaker goes over a 30-second grace
period a judge may not award that contestant first place in the round. No minimum
time limit.Original Oratory
Since these orations have been written by the contestants delivering them, the judges should
consider thought, composition, and delivery. However, as this is a contest in speech, rather
than in essay writing, the emphasis should be placed on the speech phase. Thought and
composition should be considered primarily in the way they are employed to make effective
speaking possible. The orator should not be expected to solve any of the great problems of the
day. Rather, he/she should be expected to discuss the chosen topic intelligently, with a degree
of originality, and with some profit to his/her audience.
Although many orations deal with a current problem and propose a solution, one should always
remember that this is NOT the only acceptable form of oratory. The oration may simply alert
the audience to a danger, strengthen its devotion to an accepted cause, or eulogize a person.
Give the orator free choice subject and judge him/her solely on how that subject is developed
and presented. The composition should be considered carefully for its rhetoric and diction. The
use of appropriate figures of speech, similes and metaphors, balanced sentences, allusions, and
other rhetorical devices should be noted especially, as they enhance the effectiveness of an
oration if used properly. Language use should be more than correct; it should reveal a
discriminating choice of words and altogether fine literary qualities. It should be especially
adapted to oral presentation.
Delivery should be judged for mastery of the usual mechanics of speech - poise, quality, and use
of voice, bodily expressiveness - and for the qualities of directness and sincerity. No particular
style of delivery is to be set up as the one correct style to which all contestants must conform.
Rather, each contestant is to be judged upon the effectiveness of delivery, free to choose or
develop whatever style will maximize the effectiveness of his/her oration.
1. The presentation must be memorized.
2. The speech must be the original work of the speaker. No more than 150 words of
quoted and/or paraphrased material may be included in the oration, and must be so
designated in the manuscript. This speech may not have been used in forensic
competition by the student prior to the current competitive season.
3. A copy of the oration must be available from the student upon the judge's request.
4. Time limit: Maximum of ten (10) minutes, with a 30 second grace period. If the speaker
goes over time, a judge may not award that contestant first place in the round. No
minimum time limit.Interpretive Events
Students in all interpretation events at the State Tournament must have the original or a
photocopy of the original, including the title page, with them for judges' inspection in case of
dispute. A student-typed copy of the interpretation is not acceptable. Failure to have a
requested copy will result in disqualification from the round.
This includes categories of individual (solo) performance of dramatic (serious) and humorous
literature, as well as duo performance of either emotive appeal, with selections drawn from
published, printed: novels, short stories, plays, poetry, or other printed, published works, PDFs,
e-books, as well as limited online works as provided for in the rules below.
1. Divisions. Contests are conducted in Dramatic, Humorous, Duo, and Program Oral
Interpretation.
2. Length: The time limit in Interpretation Main Events (Dramatic, Humorous, Duo, and
Program Oral Interpretation) is ten minutes with a 30-second “grace period.” If there
are multiple judges in the round, all must agree that the student has gone beyond
the grace period. Should a student go beyond the grace period, the student may not
be ranked 1st. There is no other prescribed penalty for going over the grace period.
The
ranking is up to each individual judge’s discretion. Judges who choose to time are to use
accurate (stopwatch function) timing devices. No minimum time is mandated.
3. Material: Selections used in these contests must be cuttings from a single work of
literature (one short story, play, or novel). If the source is an anthology (collection of
short stories, plays, or novels), each selection of literature is independent and only one
selection can be used, even if it is from the same author. In the genre of poetry, cuttings
may come from one or more poems or a collection of poems. Unlike the other
interpretation events, Program Oral Interpretation may use multiple sources for the
program. Song lyrics may be used if the performer has an original, hard copy of the
lyrics such as sheet music or a CD jacket. Lyrics may only be used from online sources
that appear on the approved websites list.
A. Print, PDF, and E-book Publications:
1) Print publications include novels, short stories, plays, or poetry, published
in print as per 4A.
2) In addition, published, unaltered PDF documents that are commercially
or professionally available are also eligible sources.
3) E-books (such as Kindle, Nook, etc.) may also serve as eligible sources.
NOTE: In addition to these sources, certain online materials are allowed as per
3B.
4) Also, if a treatment of a movie script is ordered from a company that
provides printed movie scripts, keep the original treatment. Please note thattext of the treatment may differ from the actual film, so students are advised against transcribing directly from the film.
B. Digital (Online) Publications: Original source material must be publicly accessible
throughout the duration of the tournament. Digital printed publications such as web pages
and PDFs retrieved or purchased from web pages are permitted as long as the web page
is publicly accessible throughout the duration of the tournament. Digital unprinted
publications such as videos, audio files, and films are permitted as long as the original
source is publicly accessible throughout the duration of the tournament and the
competitor can obtain an official transcript of the original source.
1. For print publications such as novels, short stories, plays, or poetry, the original
source is the physical book or e-book. Photocopies of original literature are not
acceptable. Presenting the physical book or e-book is sufficient to prove that a printed
publication is publicly accessible.
2. For digital printed publications such as web pages, original source material is no longer
required to come from online publishing sources listed on the NSDA Approved Websites
List. The original source must be publicly accessible for viewing or purchase by a simple
internet search or by a URL not requiring passwords or access codes. Competitors must
also present a printed manuscript to be used in the case of a protest, but presenting a
printed copy of a website is not alone sufficient to prove that a digital printed
publication is publicly accessible.
3. PDFs are permitted as long as the website from which the PDF is retrieved or
purchased is publicly accessible for viewing or purchase by a simple internet search or
by a URL not requiring passwords or access codes. Competitors must also present a
printed copy of the PDF to be used in the case of a protest, but presenting a printed
copy of the PDF is not alone sufficient to prove that a PDF is publicly accessible.
4. For digital unprinted publications such as videos, audio files, and films, the original
source must be publicly accessible for viewing or purchase by a simple internet search
or by a URL not requiring passwords or access codes. Competitors must also present a
printed official transcript of the original source to be used in the case of a protest, but
presenting an official transcript is not alone sufficient to prove that the original source is
publicly accessible. An official transcript is one approved by the original source's
producer, licensing agent, or copyright holder. As long as approval has been granted, an
official transcript may be obtained through the aforementioned parties or through an
official transcription service such as TranscribeMe, Scribie, or iScribed, which use non-
automated, manual transcription.
4. Material Availability: It is the affirmative duty of each coach and each student entered
in Interpretation contests to determine absolutely that the cutting being performed
meets all rules for material.
A. Print Publications: The original published source of any selection used must be
immediately available at the tournament as well as a word-processed manuscript of
the cutting performed, and a complete copy of the highlighted pages from the
original script used in the cutting. The typed manuscript and the text used from theYou can also read
